Alan Bates described an invite to Buckingham Palace as “ridiculous” as hundreds of postmasters still await compensation for wrongful accusations.
Mr Bates, 69, and Jo Hamilton, 66, were among the more than 700 sub-postmasters prosecuted between 2000 and 2014, based on information from the Post Office’s faulty Horizon accounting system. Both rejected invitations to Buckingham Palace. Mr Bates ripped into what he described as an “attempt at a PR job” from the Department for Business and Trade.
Several other Horizon victims were invited to the royal garden party by email on Wednesday morning. Mr Bates said he received his on Thursday and was given just 24 hours to confirm if he would be attending one of two dates in May.
Ms Hamilton, a former sub-postmistress, only received her final redress payment from the Government a little over a month ago.
Posting on X about the invitation, she said: “They still don’t get it! They party on while postmasters wait for the crumbs from their table!”
Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Bates said: “It’s ridiculous redressal payment – you had the Post Office shooting itself in the foot on Tuesday and now the DBS shooting itself in the foot. I just don’t know what they were thinking, it was clearly an attempt at a PR job.”
He said the invites to the party appeared to be limited only to those who had already received their final payment, apart from him.
“How could I accept something like this when so many people are still waiting for financial redress?” he added.
Labour MP Liam Byrne, shared Ms Hamilton’s letter on X, adding: “Well done [Ms Hamilton]! Garden parties are a poor substitute for justice. And justice is what we need. Now!”
The former sub-postmaster was falsely accused of stealing £36,000. She pleaded guilty to false accounting in 2008 for fear of going to prison, with her conviction was finally quashed in 2021.
Responding to Ms Hamilton’s post on X, Kevin Hollinrake, the Post Office minister, wrote: “Hi Jo. I’m not attending this event, however we were asked to nominate people in recognition of their service to the nation and we felt you were very deserving of that.
“I know this invite can’t make up for the hardships that you and other postmasters have faced, and we remain committed to delivering the justice and compensation you all deserve.”
Express.co.uk has contacted the Department for Business and Trade for comment.
